Restraining Government in America and Around the World

Anti-Gun Insanity from England

I really do like the English. I enjoy London, and have been threre enough to know my way around the “tube.” I’ve spoken at conference in Oxford and Cambridge. I have dated English women. So I am not going out of my way to pick on England. But I despise stupid and/or oppressive government policies, and a bunch of jaw-dropping stories involving England have come to my attention recently, mostly thanks to conventional websites such as the Drudge Report. The latest example is from The Corner at Nationalreview.com, and features a former soldier who got arrested and convicted (and may even go to jail for five years) because he found a gun in his yard and he turned it over to the police. I presume this is in part a reflection of the anti-gun ideology of the UK government, but are prosecutors and judges given no leeway to avoid foolish prosecutions or protect innocent people from absurd charges? Here is the news report:

A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for “doing his duty”. Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year. The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year’s imprisonment for handing in the weapon. In a statement read out in court, Mr Clarke said: “I didn’t think for one moment I would be arrested. …The court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden. In his statement, he said: “I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges. “I didn’t know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him. “At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall.” Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells. …Prosecuting, Brian Stalk, explained to the jury that possession of a firearm was a “strict liability” charge – therefore Mr Clarke’s allegedly honest intent was irrelevant. Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added. …Judge Christopher Critchlow said: “This is an unusual case, but in law there is no dispute that Mr Clarke has no defence to this charge. “The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant.”

[…] got in trouble with the police for brandishing a knife in her own home. —A man got arrested for finding a gun in his yard and turning it over to the police. —When the chief-starter at the London Olympics […]

Yes, of course it was a sawn off shotgun as opposed to a (titter) “sawed off” one. I keep trying to teach my American aquaintances around here in Northern Nevada how to speak English properly, but I find them to be a most ungrateful lot.

Over 30 years ago I found some class A drugs hidden behind a drain pipe I lived in the house concerned. And was looking for a block pipe hence I found these drugs. I called the police they told me to leave them where they were I said that is crazy kids are playing around here. I was told if I moved them or touch them I would be charged. I still took them to the police station along with six parents as witnesses.
Nothing ever happen

[…] I’ve shared some bizarre horror stories about adults being victimized by anti-gun fanaticism, including the Washington, DC, man who got fined $1,000 for saving a child’s life and a British man who got arrested for finding a gun and turning it over to the police. […]

When I was a boy living in Manchester England there was a travesty of justice committed against and angler. He had been fishing in the Leeds to Liverpool canal when he hooked a very rusty revolver. This was in the 1960’s. Someone must have called the police because they arrived and arrested the man. They did not even give him time to pack up his fishing gear or lock his car.

At the police station the sergeant could see that the gun was falling apart with rust and would be quite impossible to fire. It was no longer a gun it was just a lump of rust that had once been a gun so the man was released.

[…] by thugs got in trouble with the police for brandishing a knife in her own home. A man got arrested for finding a gun in his yard and turning it over to the police. The government wanted to require “competency tests” for pet […]